33 killed, 50 injured in twin car bombs in Iraq

At least 33 people are killed and 50 others injured in two car bombs in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa, security and medical officials say.

A police official said the first explosion took place around midday Sunday near government offices in the center of Samawa, while the second blast occurred minutes later at a bus station in an open-air area.

“The hospitals have received 33 dead,” AFP quoted a senior official in the Muthanna health department, which covers Samawa, as saying.

Samawa, a Shia-dominated city, is located some 370km south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

The official also noted that the death toll from both blasts is expected to rise. A medical official also confirmed the number of casualties.

Online photographs showed huge plumes of smoke rising above buildings and a number of burnt out cars and bodies lying on the ground at the site of the first attack.